Ideas don't desert you; ideas aren't treasonous to you, but people can be.
Alan DershowitzRead
The law is agnostic about truth. It's very skeptical of ultimate truth. That's why freedom of speech permits lies to be told.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The law does not define absolute truths and allows freedom of expression, even when it involves falsehoods.
This quote by Alan Dershowitz highlights the nature of law in its relationship with truth. It emphasizes that the legal system does not endorse a singular, ultimate truth and instead functions on principles that allow individuals to express themselves, even if that expression includes dishonest or misleading statements. This skepticism towards absolute truth within the framework of law underpins the importance of freedom of speech as a democratic right, even when it may lead to the dissemination of lies.
Themes
LawTruthFreedom Of SpeechLiesSkepticism
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is apt for a debate on media ethics during a journalism symposium.
More from Alan Dershowitz
All quotes βEd Koch will never "rest in peace." That was not his way. He was always nervously squirming, while making others squirm as well. Comfort was not his goal. He understood that to be a proud and assertive Jew meant never being able to leave a sigh of relief and say "it's over, we are at peace, we can now put down our guard and relax."
Alan DershowitzRead
It's never acceptable to target civilians. It violates the Geneva Accords, it violates the international law of war and it violates all principles of morality.
Alan DershowitzRead
When I was growing up, my mother would always say, 'It will go on your permanent record.' There was no 'permanent record.' If there were a 'permanent record,' I'd never be able to be a lawyer. I was such a bum, in elementary school and high school... There is a permanent record today and it's called the Internet.
Alan DershowitzRead
A good lawyer knows how to shut up when he's won his case.
Alan DershowitzRead
Scientists search for truth. Philosophers search for morality. A criminal trial searches for only one result: proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Alan DershowitzRead
Similar quotes
The season when to come, and when to go, to sing, or cease to sing, we never know.
Alexander PopeRead
In the colonial context the settler only ends his work of breaking in the native when the latter admits loudly and intelligibly the supremacy of the white man's values.
Frantz FanonRead
There is not a separate God for each person. There is one universal intelligence flowing through all of us.
Wayne DyerRead
Because cheating is easier when we can justify our behavior, people often cheat in small amounts: We can come up with an excuse for stealing Post-It notes, but it is much more difficult to come up with an excuse for taking $10,000 from petty cash.
Dan ArielyRead
We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.
Woody AllenRead
All must admit that the reception of the teachings of Christ results in the purest patriotism, in the most scrupulous fidelity to public trust, and in the best type of citizenship.
Grover ClevelandRead